I've been deeply shocked at the response of so many supposedly liberal people to the actions of Hamas and Israel's response to it. Even if they manage to somehow overlook the mass slaughter of men, women, and children going about their day, can they not see the cultural chauvinism of excusing actions and words by the Palestinians that would be utterly beyond the pale for Europeans or North Americans? Talk about racism! The Palestinians aren't children--when they advocate extermination of the Jews and repeatedly take concrete steps to implement it, on what possible grounds can one excuse it? It's cultural arrogance that would have made a Victorian imperialist blush. In my lifetime the states surrounding Israel have waged repeated credible wars against Israel with the explicit purpose being to drive the Jews into the sea, which is a poetical way of saying "exterminate the Jews." Hamas murdered 1400 Jews in an attempt to provoke another yet another war against Israel. Anyone who's first reaction to that is "Go Palestine!" should be deeply ashamed of themselves and shunned by any decent person.